The Marian Movement
The Australian
December 21, 2001, Friday
Father, Son and the Holy Mum
BYLINE: Rosemary Neill
Mary's promotion to the blessed boardroom would do the Catholic Church no harm
IT is high time heaven's glass ceiling was shattered. I am speaking of the drive
-- supported by 6 million Catholics -- to have the Pope declare the Virgin Mary
co-redeemer with Christ.
Such a dogma would involve three new spiritual truths: that Mary is co-redemptrix
and participates, with her son, in humanity's redemption; that she is a
mediatrix of all graces; and that she is an advocate for believers and
influences God's judgments.
In other words, Mary would receive what The New York Times has called "the
ultimate promotion". Mark Miravalle, a professor of Mariology at the
obscure Franciscan University in Ohio, has made the elevation of the Blessed
Virgin his life's work. In 1993 he began his mission to have her pronounced
co-redeemer. By June last year, his petition urging this had attracted 6million
signatures from 148 countries.
This is not simply idolatry by the poorly educated: the petition has been signed
by 42 cardinals, more than 500 bishops and Mother Teresa.
But the Catholic establishment is concerned that promoting Mary would threaten
the ecumenical dialogue it has been conducting with the Anglican Church. Many Protestants
would see such a move as heretical, as giving Mary equal status with Christ.
Miravalle stressed in an interview with The New York Times last year that
co-redeemer status would mean Mary would be working with Christ rather than his
equal. But Protestants also protest that an infallible proclamation by
the Pope would only re-emphasise his dogmatic authority, an authority they
flatly reject. So it seems that Mary -- like most women involved in organised
religion -- will be kept in her place, at least for the time being.
Yet in terms of public following, she is Catholicism's answer to the
contemporary cult of the megastar. Every year, millions of pilgrims flock to the
sites of her apparitions, from Lourdes and Fatima to Medjugorje. Mary sightings
are more common than Elvis sightings, despite the latter's marketing muscle.
(There were about 400 reported Mary sightings during the 20th century.)
The rosary is arguably the most recited Catholic prayer. For centuries Mary has
played a leading role in hymns, holy cards, sculpture, painting, poetry and
classical music. During Christ's life she was there when it mattered -- at his
birth, death and first public miracle (the turning of water into wine).
All this demands that, sooner rather than later, she be given a career upgrade.
In an aggressively secular age, the Catholic Church cannot afford to overlook
her growing and ardent fan club. Moreover, her credentials prove that this is
not a case of tokenistic affirmative action.
Giving Mary more power would send a signal that the Catholic Church is at last
overcoming its hang-ups about women -- from its banning of female priests to
telling married women who are on the pill that they are sinners.
Admittedly, at first glance Mary was hardly a feminist role model; that she was
a lifelong virgin despite bearing a son speaks of an inherent mistrust of female
sexuality. Much of her life was about duty and pain -- the essence of maternal
self-denial.
Yet Newsweek has reported that although feminists 20 years ago dismissed Mary as
an oppressive influence, some now celebrate her as a strong woman who freely
said yes to God at the Annunciation and made salvation history possible. Thus,
she is a counterbalance to the unfairly maligned Eve.
Some argue that if Christianity is to have a feminine symbol for God, it should
be created by women rather than an old man in a dress whose word is seen as
gospel. But a sacred woman being imagined by women for women risks being
instantly ghettoised, whereas Mary is perhaps the best-known woman in history.
I will no doubt be accused of confusing truths that are divinely revealed with
earthbound notions of social justice. Yet two of the Marian dogmas were
surprisingly recent and are still hotly disputed. The Assumption was declared in
1950 and held that Mary ascended to heaven body and soul after she died. The
dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which holds that Mary was born free from
original sin, was established in 1854.
Non-Catholics say there is no evidence in the scriptures to justify these
dogmas. They also argue that the scriptures make clear that Jesus had siblings,
meaning Mary was not a virgin all her life.
Given the fierce opposition to existing dogma, what's to lose in going one step
further and admitting the Blessed Virgin into the holy boardroom?
The exclusive domination of Christianity by male deities -- a sort of heavenly
Melbourne Club -- stands in marked contrast to the central role of female gods
in ancient mythology and some Eastern faiths. The fact that the Holy Trinity
comprises two males (God the father, God the son) and a sexless spirit suggests
that Western theologians have long had a horror of equating godliness with
femaleness.
This is short-sighted. The Catholic Church would win over more people than it
would alienate by enhancing Mary's status. Who knows? If the cult of Mary
continues to grow, the Holy Trinity may well evolve into the Holy Quartet.
--------------
Salem MA - Knights of Columbus Caught Supporting Occult Events ? ?
Double Standards at the Knights of
Columbus ?
in Salem on Saturday, November 22, 2003
Full story here http://www.penandsword.org/
Still relevant news
--------------
Killer Sect leader inspired by group Marian Workers of Atonement
London - Ugandan cult leader and murder suspect Joseph Kibwetere was
inspired by an Australian doomsday group - the Marian
Workers of Atonement -, according to
documents found at his home, The Guardian newspaper said Tuesday.
Police issued arrest warrants for Kibwetere and five other leaders after a fire
in a cult chapel in the village of Kanungu killed 530 people on March 17.
Following the fire, authorities unearthed a series of mass graves in nearby
villages, turning up 394 more corpses. Many of those victims had been strangled
or stabbed.
Unconfirmed reports say Kibwetere fled Kanungu just before the fire.
The documents show, which The Guardian said it found at Kibwetere's home, said
he held four meetings with William Kamm, leader of a New South Wales doomsday
group called the Marian Workers of Atonement, the
newspaper said.
The men met between October 6 and 10, 1989, when reports of manifestations of
the Virgin Mary - an aspect common to both cults - were becoming frequent
throughout Uganda, The Guardian said.
Full story here
The Eucharist - For those who have the courage
The Bodily
Presence of Christ in the Lords Supper (PDF) PART
1 
[4.41mb]
[The First Page in the PDF File may download slowly, but all other pages will be faster]
The Bodily
Presence of Christ in the Lords Supper (PDF) PART
2 [4.3mb]
(This is Article 2 of a 2-Article Series) 50 Page Article
[If there is a problem with the download or the Article, please report this to us]
[The First Page in the PDF File may download slowly, but all other pages will be faster]
Feminists
pray to Mary for legal abortion
Asking
that it be established throughout Latin America
July 3/04 - Despite clear Catholic teaching to the contrary, U.S. abortion advocates in Latin America have distributed a prayer card asking the Virgin Mary to intercede to establish abortion on demand throughout the region.
Many participants at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean meeting in Puerto Rico were stunned Monday when they received a prayer card with the words, "The love of God and of Mary of Guadalupe is greater. ... For women's lives, safe and legal abortion," reports the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute.
The document, approved by the Pope, says feminism has "inspired ideologies" that view men and women as enemies, and question family and marriage.
But the Pope has also called for more respect for working women, and taken a first step towards breaking the male hold on the Vatican bureaucracy.
Feminists have condemned the document as a step backwards.
Cultural relativism
The new document is a letter to Roman Catholic bishops entitled On the collaboration of men and women in the Church and the World.
It was signed by German cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - seen by some as a possible future Pope - and approved by John Paul II.
John Paul II & Marian Doctrine
VATICAN CITY, NOV 8, 2004 (VIS) - IN A LETTER DATED OCTOBER 18, AND PUBLISHED TODAY, to Cardinal Salvatore De Giorgi, archbishop of Palermo, Italy and president of the Sicilian Episcopal Conference, the Holy Father expressed his "spiritual presence" at the October 24 Eucharistic celebration in Palermo that concluded a week of prayer and reflection preparatory to celebrations in Sicily to mark the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the
Immaculate Conception. The Pope noted that, in the 17th century, the city of Palermo officially asked the Holy See to proclaim this dogma, adding that "the Immaculate Conception was proclaimed the principal patroness of all Sicily, with the faithful committed to professing and defending this truth, to the point of dying for it. ... In 1850 the Sicilian episcopacy, answering a query by Pope Pius IX, unanimously expressed their hope that this dogma would be proclaimed, affirming that the belief in the Immaculate Conception of Mary was an integral and undeniable part of the patrimony of faith and piety of the Christian people of the island."
.../IN BRIEF/... VIS
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION DOCTRINE IN LATIN AMERICA: CARDINAL SALES NAMED SPECIAL ENVOY TO CENTENARY IN BRAZIL
VATICAN CITY, SEP 1, 2004 (VIS) - Made public today was a Letter, written in Latin and dated August 2, from Pope John Paul to Cardinal Eugenio De Araujo Sales, archbishop emeritus of Sao Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, naming him as his special envoy to the celebrations of the centenary of the crowning of the statue of Nossa Senhora Aparecida and of the
150th anniversary of the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which will take place September 8 in Aparecida..
Published with the Letter were the names of the members of the pontifical mission who will accompany the cardinal: Mons. Manuel Moreira Vieira, episcopal vicar of the archdiocese of San Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro and pastor of Our Lady of Peace in Ipanema; Fr. Nelson Ferreira Lopes, pastor of St. Ann in Roseira in San Paulo, and Fr. Carlos da Silva, CSsR, director of the publishing house of the shrine of
Aparecida.
JPII-LETTER/SPECIAL ENVOY/BRAZIL:SALES
- Pontifex Maximus
- stigmatta - Mother
Teresa - Power Grab -
Pope Appoints Cardinal
- Apocrypha - Donation of Constantine
Prayers that count - the prayers that God hears
Please
Note: We do try to be accurate. If you see anything which you believe
Is not
correct on our website, please do bring it to our attention.
Thank you
(XOFC Staff)
Email us at xofcbooks6@yahoo.com
SOURCE: MATP
Core Universal Rights
The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one's belief or religion
The right to join together and express one's belief